Evangelion: Redemption (Ch. 3 of 19) - Part 2 of 2

[fanfic_mausoleum_n_grill]

(Tenkei stands beside Maya as the two of the ascend the escalator.)

Maya: ..

Tenkei: ..

(The tests completed, Maya must now transport the boy to her home where, she expects, he will spend his last night of freedom before his "trial period" comes to an end on Friday.)

Maya: (thinking) Tomorrow.

Tenkei: ..

Maya: I'm sorry that they had to do that to you..

Tenkei: ..

Maya: I didn't think it could happen..

Tenkei: ..

(The pair reach the top of the escalator; Maya grips the boy's small hand in her own as the door before them opens. The metal plates slide apart, revealing a waiting Rei on the other side..)

Maya: ..

Tenkei: ..

Rei: ..

(The boy looks up at the first child, silent. Rei also makes no sound, no attempt to make conversation. Maya only watches, knowing that this is something that she is not a part of.

The moment drags out as Rei looks at the two of them, her crimson eyes expressionless. Maya cannot help but feel slightly uncomfortable under the gaze - suddenly she becomes aware of Tenkei's hand slipping out of hers.)

Tenkei: Can.. I walk home.. with Rei?

Maya: ..Of course.

------------------------------------

(Shinji sits silently as the train accelerates. A few seats in front of him is Asuka, her crutch resting across her knees. Several seats behind Shinji is Lyn, his head down, intent on completing his understanding of his new language.)

Shinji: ..

Asuka: ..

Lyn: ..

(Apart from the three children, the train is completely empty - yet something nags at the boy, like an itch he cannot place. He stirs restlessly in his seat and glances at Asuka, only to recieve a furious glare in response. Sighing, he eventually turns towards the other boy in hope of conversation.)

Shinji: ..

Lyn: ..

Shinji: ..Lyn?

Lyn: ..Huh?

Shinji: Lyn?

Lyn: Yes Ikari?

Shinji: Um.. how is your kanji going?

Lyn: I've finished the book, but I don't really know it all. Not by heart.

Shinji: ..Well.. your Japanese sounds good, from what I hear..

Lyn: Thank you.

Shinji: ..No problem.

------------------------------------

Rei: Wait here.

(Tenkei obediently stands on the footpath as Rei goes into her shabby apartment. The door remains ajar, allowing faint sounds to escape from the rooms within.

Tenkei waits in the growing evening shade.

After a few minutes, Rei emerges, still dressed in her school uniform. She carries her school bag over her shoulder, and in her hands she has a grey woolen jumper.

Wordlessly, Rei kneels before the child, holding up the garment. Tenkei raises his arms, helping the girl as she slips the thick fabric over his small shoulders.)

Rei: Let's go.

(The first child stands up. Tenkei's small hand finds it's way into her grip - she takes it gratefully. The two of them turn towards the end of the street and begin to walk.)

------------------------------------

Friday

(The thick grey clouds of rain still hang in the skies, having not yet shed the full weight of their waters upon the city below; instead, the heavens seem content with a light spattering of rain. Touji and Kensuke wait at the main gate at the school as students file in.)

Kensuke: ..and I don't know if he'll come in today.

Touji: He sounded that bad?

(Touji leans against the waist-high fence, sheltered from the light rain, as Kensuke wipes the lens of his camera.

Kensuke: Yeah! If he was any worse, I might of thought Goro might have needed to check into a hospital! He could barely speak over the phone!

Touji: Hey - those two look familiar.

Kensuke: Yeah.. (disgust) Urrh.

(Asuka approaches the school, an odd lurch in her stride as she struggles with her crutch. Shinji keeps pace with her, awkwardly holding an umbrella over the two of them. As they reach the gate, the two observing boys can overhear a conversation.)

Asuka: Well, I think it's absolutely typical of wondergirl.

Shinji: I'm sure it's not what you think -

Asuka: (ignoring Shinji completely) Getting a crush on a six-year old! That's just totally disgusting, taking advantage of a child like that!

Shinji: Asuka..

Asuka: I guess it just suits her twisted little mind, that's all. It could be worse - it could've been someone even younger.

Shinji: Rei isn't like that -

Asuka: Some people just haven't got any sense of moral value. None at all!

Touji: Hey, what's up?

Asuka: Shinji here refuses to believe that his hero wondergirl has a soft spot for some kid.

Touji: A what spot?

Shinji: She cares for him, Asuka, but not like you think -

Asuka: Of course you don't want to see it, given that you're a male! She's crazy about that kid!

Kensuke: I don't understand - a kid?

Asuka: (accusing) I didn't expect you to understand! And who invited you into this conversation?

Kensuke: Hey wait a second -

(The pilot of Unit 02 interrupts again, shifting her crutch under her armpit, gesturing violently with her free hand.)

Asuka: Oh shut up, Aida. I'm not discussing adult matters with someone who hasn't gone through puberty yet.

Kensuke: WHAT!?

Touji: Uh oh.

Shinji: (nervous) Asuka, this isn't the time.

(Asuka gestures broadly in Shinji's direction, wedging her crutch under one arm awkwardly.)

Asuka: Sometimes you protect this jerk more than you defend Rei! What the hell is this with you boys? Can't you ever stand up for yourselves? You're all just so pathetic! It's almost as sick as wondergirl!

Kensuke: Asuka.. you really asked for this..

Asuka: Don't get any ideas, you sad substitute for a man - woop!

(Kensuke, displaying remarkable skill, kicks Asuka's crutch out from under her, sending the girl falling. She lands lightly, but the expression on her face is anything but light.)

Kensuke: Whassamatter? Can't stand up for yourself?

Askua: (shouting) AIIIDDAAAA! YOU ARE DEAD!!

(Kensuke quickly decides that discretion is the better part of valour and sprints away, his shoes slapping against the pavement. Asuka follows in hot pursuit. Touji, unable to maintain such a speed with his prosthetic leg, merely watches alongside Shinji, who is covering his forehead with one hand.)

Shinji: Why is she like this?

Touji: I don' try to explain it. I just watch.

(The observe Kensuke's run from a safe distance.)

Touji: She'll never catch him with that crutch.

Shinji: I don't know.. she's pretty fast.

Touji: .. and pissed.

Shinji: ..

Touji: No, Kensuke's safe.. see? He's climbed that tree.

Shinji: Oh yeah. Wait! Asuka's gotten her hands on the gardener's ladder..

------------------------------------

Gendo: (phone) I see.

Gendo: (phone) He didn't return to Ibuki's apartment?

Gendo: (phone) What about the school? Or the other children?

Gendo: (phone) I understand. Send a group to aquire Lieutenant Ibuki.

(He hangs up the phone. The Commander pushes his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose.)

Fuyutsuki: Again?

Gendo: The complement is proving more capable of evading our operatives then fulfilling it's actual purpose.

Fuyutsuki: If it is utilizing an AT field to decieve our agents, there is very little we can do.

Gendo: I doubt that it possess such all-encompassing capacities. It is, after all, not invisible.

Fuyutsuki: I'll have a full search carried out. Within twenty minutes, every camera on the central grid will be relaying through the Magi.

Gendo: Make it so. And send a group to Rei's apartment; should it attempted to contact her.

------------------------------------

(Maya sits on the floor in front the television in her apartment. She leans against the couch, one arm slung up on the cusions, the other holding the remote control out in front of her.)

Voice: (television) The cell, at this point, is the size of a full stop from a newspaper. Once the fertilized ovum begins cell division, we go to work.

Voice: (television) In order to re-produce a certain strain of cattle, for instance, we surgically force the dividing cells apart. So instead of one growing cell, we have two. Then three, then four.. Using simple division, we can make over twenty identical cows in this manner.

Voice: (television) Of course, this is immoral to do with humans -

(Maya rewinds the tape.)

Voice: (television) Of course, this is immoral to do with humans -

(Maya rewinds the tape.)

Voice: (television) Of course, this is immoral to do with humans -

(Maya rewinds the tape.)

Voice: (television) This is immoral to do with humans -

(As she watches the doctor earnestly repeating the line again and again, Maya's face tightens with bitterness.)

Voice: (television) This is immoral to do with humans -

Voice: (television) Immoral to do with humans -

Voice: (television) Do with humans -

Maya: We've done it.

(With a stab of her finger, the woman switches the set off.)

Maya: And we'll do it again.

Maya: And again.

Maya: Until we no longer need them to die for us.

Maya: (slowly) Then..

Maya: (bitterly) ..Then, we will kill them.

(With pain in her eyes, Maya turns her head to look through the open door to Tenkei's bedroom. It is empty; Tenkei did not return during the night.)

Maya: Rei.. Tenkei..

Maya: Run while you can.

(Morning light spills through the doorway as it is opened.)

Voice: Lieutenant Ibuki? We have orders to bring you in.

Maya: I thought so.

Voice: Your co-operation will be appreciated.

------------------------------------

(Once again, Shinji finds himself sitting at his desk staring at Ayanami's place in the classroom. Rei is absent, bringing forth a grumbling comment from the teacher.)

Teacher: Ayanami, absent as usual..

Shinji: ..

-(flashback)-Rei: What did it feel like when you ran away?

-(flashback)-Rei: He doesn't..

-(flashback)-Rei: Tenkei..

Shinji: ..

------------------------------------

Shinji: Hey Touji.. Where's Kensuke?

(The boy sitting with his back to a wall, shifts slightly.)

Touji: Probably still running from Asuka. As soon as lunch started, she was lurching after him like the bride of Frankenstein. She sure holds a grudge.

Shinji: Yeah..

Touji: I noticed you kept staring at Ayanami's desk.

Shinji: (embarrassed) Yeah, uh, well, it's just..

Touji: Don't worry Shinji, it's not like I'll still tease you for stuff like that. Hikari's kept on my back to ask you about what's wrong with Ayanami. She's really worried.. sometimes I think she acts like a mother to these kids.

Shinji: Rei does?

Touji: No, Hikari! I guess being the class rep an all has given her the idea that we're all her responsibility.

Shinji: Oh.. Hikari..

Touji: Yeah.. But what's wrong with Rei?

Shinji: ..I don't know.

Touji: You're a pilot.. don't you know anything about her?

-(flashback)-Kensuke: You should know her better than any of us, Shinji!

Shinji: I'm.. worried. She's asked me questions about things and I.. don't like the way it's heading.

Touji: Questions? About what?

-(flashback)-Rei: What did it feel like when you ran away?

Shinji: ..

(The third child gets up, a frown on his face.)

Shinji: Nothing. I'm going to find Kensuke. There's something I've got to ask him.

------------------------------------

Fuyutsuki: The school reported that the first child was absent today.

Gendo: And she is not at her residence, either..

Fuyutsuki: Of course, there are other places for her to be.

Gendo: No. The search must be widened to include Rei. She must be found.

Fuyutsuki: (nods, then pauses) The complement is being less than helpful in this situation.

Gendo: ..

Fuyutsuki: What will you do should we retrieve him?

Gendo: He can still fulfil his primary purpose - the latest test is proof enough of that.

------------------------------------

Asuka: You can't stay in there forever!

Kensuke: (voice) I can try!

(Asuka, her crutch held up like a weapon, stands before the entrance to one of the boy's toilet blocks. The fleeing Kensuke has found temporary sanctuary within.)

Asuka: Just like I said! You're no man at all! Just a little boy, hiding from people more mature!

Kensuke: (voice) If you're so mature, why don't you follow me in?

Asuka: (disgust) Euugh! No way, you filthy pervert! God knows what sick perverted things you have in there! I'm not going to lower myself to that level!

(Lyn approaches, his face slightly curious. He is wise enough to stay out of Asuka's way.)

Asuka: Okay! If you're going to be that way about it.. I'm leaving. I'm not going to waste my time on someone as pathetic as you!

(Asuka taps the concrete walkway with her crutch, with each blow reducing the strength, producing less sound. After a few 'steps', she stops, readying the crutch as a club, waiting for her prey's appearance.)

Kensuke: (voice) How stupid do you think I am, Sohryu?

(Asuka's face goes bright red and a frustrated growl escapes her throat.)

Asuka: Grrrrrrr! Anouilh! Go in there and get that pervert!

Lyn: Wha.. why me?

Asuka: Because he trusts you! Go inside and tell him I'm gone!

Lyn: And.. then what?

Asuka: Then he'll come out. (swings crutch demonstratively) See?

Lyn: (looking at crutch) Uh.. I don't think that's what it was made for, Sohryu..

Asuka: Who cares? Get moving and go get him!

Kensuke: (voice) I heard that!

Asuka: Ruuuuuugh!

------------------------------------

Kensuke: You'd have to get up pretty early in the morning to fool Kensuke Aida!

Shinji: Kensuke?

(Kensuke looks down. Squeezed halfway through the back window of the toilet block, he awkwardly peers down at Shinji, standing outside the window. Kensuke's glasses are perched precariously on his nose.)

Shinji: What are you doing up there?

Kensuke: I'm escaping from Asuka.

Shinji: Oh.

Kensuke: Could you find her and talk some sense into her? She's gone completely insane!

Shinji: I don't think it would do much good.. sometimes I think Asuka ignores her friends more than she ignores other people..

(Kensuke slithers out of the window, barely caught by Shinji. Between the two of them, they contort Kensuke's legs out of the opening and get them underneath the fleeing boy.)

Kensuke: Thanks Shinji.

Shinji: Yeah.. I need your help.

Kensuke: ..Great! Corporal Aida always repays his debts!

Shinji: ..Hmm.. I was wondering if we could go camping this afternoon..

------------------------------------

Hikari: Hey Asuka! What are you doing?

(School has finished, and students are making their way out of the grounds. Hikari is calling out to Asuka, who is waiting at the entrance to the school block. The pilot shifts her crutch.)

Asuka: I was just waiting for Shinji. (quickly) Not that I want to, it's just that he's got an umbrella and it looks like raining..

Hikari: (looking up) I suppose.. we'll probably get a lot of bad weather this weekend.. I heard Kensuke say something about he and Shinji going back to his place after school - he might be there.

Asuka: Oh great. That's typical of boys. Leave you stranded out in the rain while they go off to play with that .. (fades into grumbling)

Hikari: I don't think they're playing; Shinji said something about Rei. (smiling) Come on Asuka, let's walk home.

Asuka: (nodding, but still glaring around) Oh alright.

------------------------------------

Kensuke: This is Rei's place, right?

Shinji: ..

(The two boys stand in front of the door. Shinji presses the button on the panel beside the doorframe.)

Shinji: ..

Kensuke: When do you want to go camping?

Shinji: ..That depends.

(Shinji reaches out and opens the door.)

Kensuke: What are you doing?

Shinji: Stay out here - I'll just be a minute.

(Shinji steps inside, closing the door behind him. The apartment is still as untidy and chaotic as he remembered - but still, the same constants remain. The slot in the door is still crammed with ignored junk mail, the beaker of water still rests on the bedside table.

A pair of cracked glasses lies on the table.)

Shinji: ..

(The pilot walks up to the glasses, touching the table with his fingertips as he looks down at the fractured lenses.)

Shinji: Father..

(The boy turns and slowly walks up to the bathroom door. Standing beside the panel, he knocks on it lightly.)

Shinji: Rei?

Shinji: (pausing) Rei, are you there?

(He recieves no response. He slips his fingers into the groove of the panel and slides it open. Reaching his hand into the dark room, he gropes along the wall, finding the lightswitch.

With a flick the bathroom is illuminated, it's plain grey tiles dully reflecting the light.)

Shinji: Rei..

(He switches the light back off.)

Shinji: (thinking) She's gone..

(Shinji Ikari heads for the door.)

Shinji: (calling) Kensuke?

(Kensuke meets the pilot at the doorway.)

Kensuke: Yeah Shinji?

Shinji: You've got stuff at your house for camping, right?

Kensuke: Sure. When do you want to leave?

(Ikari looks at his friend. The face of the third child is set in an expression of determination. More than ever, he looks like his father.)

Shinji: We leave now. It'll be better if we just drop by your place. Will it be okay with your parents?

Kensuke: (surprised) Now? Um, yeah.. I usually go camping on weekends, so my dad won't mind.. Now?

Shinji: Yes. We will need enough for four people. Can you do it?

Kensuke: (gaping) Yeah.. four people? Who's coming?

Shinji: Just us.

------------------------------------

(Night is falling over Tokyo-3.)

Asuka: ..

-(flashback)-Hikari: Shinji said something about Rei.

Asuka: ..

(A familiar feeling returns to the second child. Asuka has known it before.)

-(flashback)-Asuka: Why for her? Am I so worthless you couldn't do this for me?

Asuka: ..

(Asuka stands on the balcony of Misato Katsuragi's apartment, her arms on the rails, her head hanging limply over the edge. Every few seconds, the girl feels the prick of a cold raindrop against the back of her neck - the rain has not yet come in full force, but it brews, growing slowly on the horizon.)

Misato: Asuka?

Asuka: You seen Shinji?

Misato: No. I was going to ask you if you knew where he is.

Asuka: If you know Kensuke's number, you can call him. I think he's at Aida's place.

Misato: I know.. Shinji called me just after school to tell me.

Asuka: Then if you knew, why did you ask me?

(Misato watches Asuka from the doorway silently for a moment.)

Misato: Rei has gone missing. I got the report from the security forces just a few minutes ago.

Asuka: ..

Misato: The complement.. the child named Tenkei.. is also gone.

Asuka: Am I supposed to know something?

Misato: If you don't know anything, then I'll believe you. But some people aren't going to trust you like I do.

Asuka: ..

Misato: When Shinji called, he said that he was going camping.

Asuka: ..Oh.

Misato: ..

Asuka: ..

Misato: ..

(The second child straightens suddenly, pushing her hair back over her shoulders.)

Asuka: ..I'm going to bed. (walking inside, past Misato) G'night.

------------------------------------

(Shinji ducks under a low tree branch. Kensuke follows closely behind. Both teenagers wear jackets over their school uniforms, safeguards against the light spattering of chill rain, and both carry packs, heavy with camping gear.)

Kensuke: Do you even know where we're going, Shinji?

Shinji: ..

Kensuke: Shinji?

Shinji: (shaking his head) What?

Kensuke: Do you know where we're going?

Shinji: I.. don't worry, Kensuke.

(They continue to trudge on in the twilight. The damp ground and gathering darkness conspires to slow their progress as the rain begins to pick up tempo.)

Kensuke: (looking up) This rain is only going to get worse. Looks like that storm the weather service has been predicting.

Shinji: ..

Kensuke: And it's getting dark. We really ought to set up camp now.

Shinji: ..

(Kensuke stops walking, but ahead, Shinji continues to trudge, the rain pelting the boy's back as he half hunches over.)

Kensuke: (calling out) Hey Shinji! Where are you going?

Shinji: ..We can't stop here.

Kensuke: ..

Shinji: Rei wouldn't have stopped - she's not going to stop, Kensuke. We have to keep going if we're going to catch up.

Kensuke: (begins walking again) Why are you so sure she came this way?

(Shinji hesitates before answering.. but his answer is certain.)

Shinji: I just know she did.

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(Rei kneels down by the creek, refilling the water bottle as Tenkei slowly chews the last of the food the girl had packed before. Their supplies hadn't lasted nearly as long as she had hoped.)

Rei: ..

Tenkei: (chewing)

Rei: We must continue..

Tenkei: (swallowing) ..Yes..

(She rises, slipping the water bottle into her bag as she climbs up the muddy bank of the creek to where Tenkei waits. The boy waits for her patiently, a look of simple faith in his yellow eyes.)

Rei: (thinking) They're not going to hurt you any more..

Rei: (thinking) We'll find someone..

(Rei takes hold of the boy's hand as they continue to walk. Rei's feet are by now sore and damp from the wet ground, but she continues, putting as much distance between Tenkei and NERV as possible.)

Tenkei: ..

Rei: ..

Tenkei: ..

Rei: ..

Tenkei: (pointing) Look..

(Rei raises her eyes from the ground to see the object that the boy sees. A small clump of flowers, red-yellow blossoms, shaped like elongated bells. Higher on it's bush than Tenkei can reach, the flowers drip water as the rain filters down the tree.)

Rei: ..

Tenkei: They are.. familiar..

(Rei reaches up and grasps one of the small blossoms, gently twisting it free. She offers it to Tenkei.)

Rei: ..?

Tenkei: ..

(With a shy smile, the boy takes the flower. He examines it with fascination as they continue on their journey.)

------------------------------------

Maya: I don't presume to understand the mind of the first child.

(The Project-E Chairperson now occupies the seat of her predecessor - a small wooden stool in an otherwise dark room. The NERV logo is emblazoned in bright red on the wall beside her:

God's In His Heaven, All's Right In The World.

The only other feature of note is the light spilling in from the doorway. In the spillage stand two figures - the Commander, Gendou Ikari, and his subcommander, Fuyutsuki. Their interest is clearly the chairperson, the "accused" that is imprisoned in the featureless, dark cell.)

Gendo: And yet, you facilitated contact between the first and the Complement.

Maya: ..

Fuyutsuki: Why did you do so?

Maya: ..I did so in the interests of their mental health.

Fuyutsuki: Mental health?

Maya: ..

Gendo: Lieutenant?

Maya: They are human, sir. They deserve something.

Fuyutsuki: The contact between Rei and the Complement is most likely the cause of our present predicament.

Maya: ..Yes sir.

Gendo: You understand our present suspicion of your involvement, of course.

Maya: Of course.

Fuyutsuki: Then to the point - do you have anything to tell us about the intentions of the first child?

Maya: ..I didn't know that Rei would attempt this. No, I can't tell you anything.

Gendo: I see.

(The light vanishes, leaving the Leiutenant in darkness once more, with the NERV logo as company.)

Maya: ..

(Slowly, a single tear winds its way down her cheek as she contemplates the sorrow and pain she can see looming on the horizon for the desperate runaways once in her care. Her head bows in unknowing imitation of her former superior officer as she whispers a small phrase into the darkness..)

Maya: Ritsuko.. what would you have done in my place?

To Be Continued...

[Chapter 4]